NFL admits to blown call against Saints after NFC Championship

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton said the NFL admitted they “blew the call” in Sunday’s controversial NFC championship in their defeat against the Los Angeles Rams.

The Rams reached Super Bowl LIII thanks to a controversial overtime 26-23 victory that included a no-call on what appeared to be pass interference.

The New Orleans might have gone on to score the winning touchdown, had Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman been called for pass interference on Saints wide receiver Tommylee Lewis.

If not that, the Saints could have been able to run the lock down in order to attempt a winning field goal.

Instead, New Orleans kicked a field goal, followed by the Rams field goal kick, sending the game into overtime.

Payton contacted the league office afterward and said, “Just getting off the phone with the league office. It was simple, they blew the call.”

Payton said he just got off the phone with the league and admitted the call was blown.

— Larry Holder (@LarryHolder) January 20, 2019 “They said, ‘There never should not have been a call.’ They said not only was it interference, it was helmet-to-helmet. They couldn’t believe it.”

Sean Payton already called the league office #Saints pic.twitter.com/VDqtN6M7Ay

— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) January 20, 2019 Payton added: “I don’t know if there was ever a more obvious pass interference.”

The play is getting lots of attention and will most likely be debated for years to come. In the meantime, the Los Angeles Rams will face the winner of the AFC championship game – either the New England Patriots or Kansas City Chiefs – in the Super Bowl on February 3.